This is an opinion piece.

Last week in this space, I ran through my top 10 stories of the year 2023.

This week, I thought it might be good to look ahead to the rest of 2024.

What high school sports stories will we still be talking about next December?

Here are a couple of prominent possibilities:

1. NIL in Alabama high schools

I hate to even write that phrase, but it’s coming, folks. Last month, Rep. Jeremy Gray, D-Opelika, sponsored HB25, which would open the door to allow high school athletes to make money off their image. The bill is limited to the athlete and does not allow the use of “marks, including a school logo, school name, school mascot, or trademarked logo or acronym of an athletic association,” alongside some other restrictions. It’s a similar bill to one Georgia and other states have passed recently.

I don’t know whether HB25 specifically will pass, but we have to face the realization that eventually something similar will if this one doesn’t. Current AHSAA executive director Alvin Briggs has said the AHSAA continues to look at all facets of its amateur rule. Former executive director Steve Savarese told AL.com in October that passing a bill like this – as Georgia did – “will completely do away with the amateur rule. There is no way to govern or regulate it.”

This is another way to spotlight individualism and take away from the team aspects of team-oriented athletics. That can’t be good. I’m sure everyone took note of the opt outs in most of the non-semifinal college football bowl games. How long before prep stars making NIL opt out of playoff games? Yikes.

2. The location of future Super 7s

The AHSAA Super 7 football championships were played in Tuscaloosa’s Bryant-Denny Stadium last month as part of a contract that runs through 2032 where the event rotates between Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Birmingham.

However, many believe now that the college football playoff is expanding to 12 teams and will include home games, that Auburn and Alabama will opt out of the contract. If that happens, will all future Super 7s be played at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium?

Will it continue to rotate between other sites and, if so, what cities will be in the running to host? AL.com has reported that Mobile is certainly interested in bringing the event to Hancock Whitney Stadium at South Alabama. Would Troy, Jacksonville State or Montgomery be possibilities as well?

The first step is to see if Tuscaloosa and Auburn opt out for sure. The 2024 Super 7 is scheduled for Birmingham so it may not be a decision that has to be made immediately, but I’m sure it’s on Briggs’ mind and has been for a while.

3. Rampant transfers

As has been the case in college sports, the increase in student-athletes transferring from one in-state high school to another or even out of state has been a constant source of concern in recent years.

Multiple high-profile athletes made moves in 2023. AHSAA rules specify that an athlete whose family makes a bonafide move into another school district is eligible immediately if that student is in good standing and everything checks out with the move.

Other than cracking down on any moves that might not be by the books, I’m not sure there is a way to limit the transfers. It will be interesting to see if the trend slows down or ramps up in 2024.

4. A change at Hoover

Hoover officially hired Clay-Chalkville’s Drew Gilmer as its new head football coach on Thursday.

Anytime the Bucs make a change, it’s certainly newsworthy.

Can Gilmer, whose team has won two of the last three Class 6A state titles, get Hoover back to the top of Class 7A?

Whether he does or not, it will be a story to watch in 2024.

Other notes:

Motivating story of the week

In a story that should motivate all of us, Hewitt-Trussville’s Grayson Pope returned to school this week.

Pope, one of the state’s top high school baseball players and a Tennessee commit, was seriously injured when a tree fell on his golf cart during a thunderstorm on June 6.

He spent 42 days in a Birmingham hospital before being transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, one of the top brain and spinal cord rehabilitation centers in the country. When school resumed this week following the holiday break, Grayson was there.

There are still some hurdles, and we certainly should keep praying for Grayson, but the fact that he has returned to his high school shows his determination and God’s hand in his life. You can follow his continuing journey on the Facebook page “Prayers for Grayson Pope.”

Opting-In

Shout out to a couple of former Alabama high school football players who decided to opt into their non-playoff bowl games last week instead of joining the trend not to play.

Former Spanish Fort star Kris Abrams-Draine not only played in his team’s 14-3 win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl but played some of it injured. Abrams-Draine suffered a separated shoulder during the game but when coach Eli Drinkwitz recommended he not return, Abrams-Draine responded “the hell I am” and returned to the Missouri defense anyway.

Former Scottsboro and Pinson Valley star and Heisman Trophy finalist Bo Nix also decided to play quarterback in Oregon’s 45-6 win over Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. He threw for 363 yards and five touchdowns and set numerous program records.

“Well, for me, my decision was simple,” Nix said of the choice to play or not play. “I wanted to go out and compete one more time. I wanted to go out and play another game. I don’t think you’re promised too many opportunities to play football. And with the year that we had, it would have been a shame if I didn’t go out there and finish with the guys who made it all possible.”

Thank you guys for playing one more game for your teams.

We will see you in Mobile in a few weeks for the Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Thought for the Week

“When all I see is the battle, You see my victory

When all I see is the mountain, You see a mountain moved

And as I walk through the shadow, Your love surrounds me

There’s nothing to fear now for I am safe with You.” – Battle Belongs, Phil Wickham

Ben Thomas is the high school sportswriter at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected]. He can be heard weekly on “Inside High School Sports” on SportsTalk 99.5 FM in Mobile or on the free IHeart Radio App at 2 p.m. Wednesdays.